1. Field
The following description relates to a knob assembly configured for a user to manipulate a washing machine, and a washing machine having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a washing machine is an apparatus configured to wash laundry by introducing clothes contaminated with dirt into the washing machine together with detergent and water, and then by generating a water stream such that the dirt on the clothes is removed through emulsification of detergent and the friction of the wash water stream.
The washing machine as such is divided into a vertical shaft type washing machine having a drum vertically installed at a body and a drum type washing machine having a drum horizontally installed at a body. The vertical shaft type washing machine performs a wash operation by use of a water current generated as a pulsator disposed inside the drum as the drum rotates forward and backward. In contrast, the drum type washing machine performs a wash operation in a manner that the laundry, as a drum disposed in a horizontal direction rotates forward and backward, is lifted along an inner circumferential surface of the drum together with wash water and then dropped.
In general, the washing machine is provided at an upper portion of a front side of a cabinet thereof with a control panel assembly to control the operation of the washing machine.
The control panel assembly is provided with a knob assembly mounted thereon such that a user sets the washing cycle or the washing time in a simple manner.
The knob assembly, along with a power button, is a portion of the washing machine having the highest frequency of use, and as time goes by, the knob assembly tends to have a decreasing connecting strength and a deformed structure.
In addition, the knob assembly, due to a complicated assembly structure thereof, has a low efficiency of assembly and a high cost of components.